Harrisburg school board unanimously denies charter school application, but leader pushes on

Despite a 7-to-0 unanimous vote to deny a STEAM charter application, the president of the academy said she plans to appeal Harrisburg School Board members’ decision.

Pennsylvania Charter School law requires the school board to approve or deny an application. But it also allows for the applicant to appeal a denial.

The only comment made to a backdrop of teachers, teacher supporters and district residents Tuesday night was by President Danielle Robinson.

“In my time here, we’ve had roughly nine charter school applications that have come to the school board,” she said. “And, as far as I know, only two have gone through. And, I think we need to make sure that people understand we are not, it doesn’t matter who sits on your board, it doesn’t matter who’s backing you, it doesn’t matter who’s behind you, we are not just going to hand our children off to you. That just happens to be my opinion.”

School board member Brian Carter was unable to attend the regularly scheduled meeting.

Dumaresq said she and her team, which includes another former state secretary of education, Ron Tomalis, were “certainly disappointed” the school board struck down the charter’s application. She said she is working with her attorney on the next steps forward to appeal the district’s decision.

No explanation was provided for why they denied the application.

Harrisburg teachers, who attended Tuesday evening's school board meeting, were among those in the crowd who chanted, "no more charter schools."

The science, technology, engineering, mathematics and arts academy would be housed on the third floor of 1500 N. 3rd Street, Greenworks Development Chief Executive Officer Doug Neidich has said. He’s also supporting Dumaresq’s efforts.

Administrators noted a number of concerns at the second public hearing. Among them, they said, the charter application lacked written policy and procedures, namely in communication, and enrollment. Questions were posed to the charter’s board members about their designed curriculum and whether the charter’s board considered the district’s demographics when selecting its academic choices.

Budgeting and staffing adequately also were broached as concerns. A discrepancy was found with the STEAM Academy’s budget during the meeting, and it was noted that the STEAM Academy’s budget was incorrect. Representatives of the charter school agreed their numbers were off.

No resident spoke at the charter’s second public hearing, unlike Tuesday night, when a union representative and a resident approached the mic. They said the district needs to get its financial house in order.

Not all of a student’s per-pupil allocation follows the student because the district needs to fund its own programs such as student transportation, Dumaresq has explained.

There is no for-profit component to this proposal, she continued. There are no additional fees, or tuition, per student and no increased costs to the district, Dumaresq said.

The inaugural classes would consist of students in kindergarten, first and second grades. There would be about 20 students in each classroom, Dumareq said, and one teacher and one teacher’s aide for every 10 students.

Classroom seats would go to Harrisburg School District students first before they would be opened to students attending nearby school districts, Dumaresq said. The academy board would use a lottery to determine who would attend the charter, she said. If a student’s number is pulled, and he or she has siblings in the corresponding grades, then the family could attend the academy, she said.

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